so i have been more or less successful at defaulting some of the things i want, but i'm stuck :-(

so i put in a request over at Gos to have this default changed to basically just remove the scarf cause that's the only part that bugs me. but no one has bitten yet. nbd, i decided in the mean time i could use gwillewyn 's edit built on the HystericalParoxysm mesh edit. i'm not a huge fan of the pants, but it's better than the one with the scarf.

so i have the uc running on a windows 7 64bit pc and when i search in SimPE under "propertyset ssearch" ambodydisco i get no returns. the only way i can find it is going to open and then C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Best of Business\EP3\TSData\Res\Catalog\Skins. so my first question is is it ok to try default it from here? all the other defaults have pulled from my documents and not actually program files (i believe). but the uc only seems to recognize "skins" from the base game in my documents.

also is there some more or less simple (or idiot friendly) method of removing the scarf/neck tie from the ambodydisco outfit and the ambodyopenjacketrocker. i know defaults have been made for both of these, but i actually prefer the maxis textures. i'm just getting a feel for SimPE and that's all i have right now. never tried to recolor. is it something that can be done in bodyshop?

thanks for reading guys any and all advice is welcome. x-posted to Gos.

It is not just a matter of texture here, it is a mesh edit you'd need. So yes, you can use bodyshop..but you need meshing skills too. The neck part would have to be replace by a nude one (well, this is what i would do.)
It's been so long I have created anything for the sims 2..I admit, I cannot answer your first(s) wondering..but *I* would not edit anything from there to make it a default because I prefer keeping the original game files as they are. So..extracting the ones you want to be default is smarter in my opinion. It creates a new item that simply overwrite the original one, while keeping the latter intact.

HP's default is a mesh and texture replacement, so you don't need to search for ambodydisco. If I wanted to do what it seems that you want to do, I'd download gwillewyn's textures and HP's default. extract gwillewyn's textures, use Build DXT to import the textures into the default, then use Save As to save under a different (and shorter) name. gwillewyn kept the Maxis labels for the outfits, so it should be no problem if you have the DDS utilities -- Build DXT will be grayed out if you don't have them.

this seems the best route and i guess at this point all i'd be missing is the ring.

but my brain exploded a bit. from what i understand i just need to kind of separate HP's mesh and use gwillewyn's textures, right? but i am a bit lost at how to do that.

looking at it in SimPE i'm a bit overwhelmed. can you instruct me on what my steps would be or can you recommend a walkthrough?

I'll try. For one thing, you don't need to separate anything.
Step 1: For each package in gwillewyn's edit, load it into SimPE, then select the TXTR. Right-click on the image in the Plugin View, and select Export. That should bring up the standard Save File dialog. You may want to add something to each filename so it's identifiable.

Step 2: Open HP's default in SimPE. Select a TXTR. Right-click on the image and select Build DXT. In the dialog that opens, there'll be a dropdown labeled Sharpen: it defaults to Smoothen, change it to None. Click open Image, open should be highlighted. Select the image you want, then click Build. The DDS utilities will import the image and update the MipMap. Once that is done, click Commit. Repeat this for each TXTR.

Once that's done, use File -> Save As to save the package under whatever name you want.

thank you so much dharden! it worked! i've always been frightened by simpe. i've been playing since 2010 and i hadn't opened it until like a month ago. i appreciate the help :-)

You're welcome, @leslienv03 . BTW, I found a no-scarf edit of ambodyopenjacketrocker here, and a default by Artemida is here.

thank you again @dharden lvstndhrt's edit is just what i'm looking for